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BARCELONA have been provisionally cleared to play in the 2023-24 Champions League amid a Uefa investigation into allegations the club made payments to a referees’ chief. In March, European football’s governing body confirmed it was looking into claims of payments made by Barcelona for favourable refereeing decisions. Barcelona have denied any wrongdoing. While Barcelona have been allowed in Europe, Uefa reserved the right to punish the club in the future. The Uefa investigation came after a criminal investigation was brought by the Barcelona public prosecutor’s office on 10 March. It was alleged that Barcelona paid 8.4m euros (£7.4m) to Jose…

ITALIAN giants AC Milan have signed Nigeria’s Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal. “AC Milan is delighted to announce the signing of Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze from Villarreal CF,” the club wrote in a Thursday statement. “The Nigerian forward has signed for the Rossoneri until 30 June 2028.” The winger was born in Nigeria on May 22nd, 1999, and was part of the Diamond Football Academy Youth Sector before teaming up with Villarreal in 2017. He scored four goals with Villarreal’s B side in 20 games before debuting for the senior team in September 2018. Chukwueze then went on to play 207 times…

SINGAPORE on Friday executed a woman for the first time in almost 20 years, officials confirmed. Singaporean national Saridewi Djamani, 45, was found guilty of trafficking 30g (1.06oz) of heroin in 2018. Sheis the second drug convict to be executed this week, after fellow Singaporean Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, and the 15th since March 2022. Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, which it says are necessary to protect society. Singapore law specifies that the death penalty will be imposed on anyone caught trafficking more than 500g of cannabis or 15g of heroin. Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB)…

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised to send up to 50,000 tonnes of free grain supplies to six African countries as he opened a Russia-Africa summit in his native Saint Petersburg. “In the coming months we will be able to ensure free supplies of 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea,” he said in a speech.

NIGER’s President Mohamed Bazoum is in good health after being taken captive by his own presidential guard, the French foreign minister has said. Catherine Colonna told AFP news agency the coup was not “final”. She said Mr Bazoum had spoken to Emmanuel Macron and added there was a “way out” for the coup plotters if they listened to the global community. On Thursday, coup supporters attacked the headquarters of the ousted president’s party. They set it on fire, stoning and burning cars outside. The small group of arsonists had broken away from a larger show of support for the coup…

MAURITANIAN authorities have charged a high school student with blasphemy over a mock exam paper she submitted. The young woman was arrested last week for allegedly showing disrespect to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). If found guilty, she could be sentenced to death with no possibility of appeal. Mauritania has strengthened its blasphemy laws in recent years, removing the clause allowing offenders to escape death if they show remorse. Nevertheless, there have been no executions for blasphemy in the country for more than 30 years. The student was arrested on 18 July in the northwestern town of Atar on charges of…

FORMER Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, his Rivers State counterpart Nyesom Wike and eminent medical scholar Ali Pate are on the list of ministerial nominees forwarded to the Senate by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it was learnt this morning. Also nominated for cabinet positions are legal luminary Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); an economist Olawale Edun, banker Adebayo Adelabu, former Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Leader Mrs. Betta Edu, Senator Ben Ayade and eminent journalist Dele Alake, who is currently the Special Adviser on Media, Strategy and Special Duties. A Senate source said the President forwarded the…

JENNIFER Hermoso and Alba Redondo both scored twice as Spain qualified for the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup with a 5-0 win over Zambia on Wednesday, a result that also propelled Japan into the knockout phase. The fit-again Alexia Putellas was handed a start by Spain coach Jorge Vilda and she played a part in early goals by Teresa Abelleira and Hermoso at Eden Park. Substitute Redondo then scored twice in the second half, either side of another Hermoso, goal as Spain cruised to victory. Reigning Ballon d’Or Putellas, who recently returned from over nine months out with…

PARIS Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has refused to meet officials from Al Hilal, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the Saudis’ ambitious hopes of completing a world record 300-million-euro ($333 million) swoop. The French star has refused “any discussion with the representatives of the Al-Hilal club, present in Paris this Wednesday,” reported L’Equipe sports daily. According to the report, a delegation from the Saudi club came to Paris to finalise the transfer of Brazilian Malcom from Zenit Saint Petersburg. They also wanted to present their project to Mbappe while in the French capital. “This approach will not succeed,” added L’Equipe…

AN OHIO policeman who released an attack dog on a black truck driver who was trying to surrender after a highway chase has been fired. Officials said that his actions “did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers”. Bodycam footage of the 4 July arrest shows Ryan Speakman of Circleville police directing his dog to attack driver Jadarrius Rose. Other officers repeatedly instructed Mr Speakman to “not release the dog”. The incident took place in the town of Circleville, around 30 miles (48km) south of Columbus, after police tried to pull over a commercial lorry…

MOLDOVA says it will expel 45 Russian diplomats and other embassy staff because of their “unfriendly actions”. The total will be cut to just 25 – a figure closer to the number Moldova has at its Moscow embassy. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the Moldovan government has accused Moscow of spying and backing opposition groups. Russia condemned the expulsion and said it would “not go unanswered”. On Tuesday, Moldova’s foreign ministry voiced concern about a media report on new surveillance equipment installed on the Russian embassy roof and a neighbouring building used by Russia. The report…

TWENTY-TWO people died and 52 were injured Wednesday when a bus crashed in northern Senegal, the fire brigade told AFP. The accident happened in the village of Ngeune Sarre in Louga region, a national fire brigade official said, while a rescue worker at the site said the final death toll could rise. They did not specify the cause or time of the accident. In January, 19 people were killed and 24 injured in a collision in the same area, near Louga. The previous week, around 40 people died in a bus crash in the centre of Senegal. That tragedy, on…

MORE than 40 people have died in Algeria, Italy and Greece and thousands have been evacuated as Mediterranean wildfires threaten villages and holiday resorts. The entire island of Rhodes has been put into a state of emergency, as fires also rage on Corfu and Evia. The current long heatwave shows no let-up – temperatures are expected to rise above 44C (111F) in parts of Greece. Fires in Sicily and Puglia have forced thousands of people to flee. High winds and tinder-dry vegetation mean firefighters are struggling in many areas to douse the flames and create firebreaks. The heaviest death toll…

ACCESS to the official residence of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum was blocked off early Wednesday by members of the elite Presidential Guard, a source close to Bazoum said, although the reason was unclear. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a coup attempt is possibly ongoing at the presidential palace in Niamey. The president is reported to be negotiating with armed forces who have blocked access to the palace. The situation is unclear at present. The landlocked West African state is one of the most coup-prone nations in the world, experiencing four since independence from France in 1960 as well as numerous attempted…

NIGERIAN champions Enyimba have been drawn against Egyptian club Al-Ahly Benghazi in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League while Remo Stars face Ghana’s Medeama Sporting Club. This followed Tuesday’s draw for the preliminary round of the 2023/24 edition of the competition held at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The first leg of the tie will be played between August 18-20 in Libya while the return fixture takes place a week later in the Nigerian city of Aba, Abia State. A win for either club will see them take on either Cameroon’s Coton Sport or Cote d’Ivoire’s ASEC…

THE Philippines won a World Cup match for the first time as they stunned co-hosts New Zealand on Tuesday, while teenage star Linda Caicedo scored to help Colombia surge past South Korea. Philippines coach Alen Stajcic said on the eve of the New Zealand match that his side wanted to “crash the party”, and they did just that with a gutsy 1-0 victory in front of 32,357 fans in Wellington. Sarina Bolden scored the only goal with a header in the first half for a famous Philippine win — the country’s first at either a men’s or women’s World Cup.…

A RETIRED US church pastor who presided nearly half a century ago at the funeral of a kidnapped eight-year-old girl has been charged with her murder. Gretchen Harrington went missing in the Philadelphia suburb of Marple Township on the morning of 15 August 1975 while attending summer Bible camp. Earlier this year, an anonymous woman told investigators she believed her best friend’s father was the culprit. David Zandstra, 83, is now charged with murder and kidnapping of a minor. “He is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer told reporters on Monday. “He killed this poor eight-year-old…

THE former Chinese Communist Party chief in the e-commerce hub of Hangzhou has been handed a suspended death sentence after he was found guilty of taking $25 million in bribe, state media said on Tuesday. Tackling corruption has been a centrepiece of President Xi Jinping’s time in power, with more than 1.5 million officials affected according to government data. Zhou Jiangyong was the former Communist Party secretary of Hangzhou, the hometown of internet giant Alibaba, and was handed a death sentence with a two-year suspension, state broadcaster CCTV said. The broadcaster said a court found him guilty of taking more…

AIR strikes and artillery barrages from Sudan’s warring generals killed at least 16 people in a Khartoum neighbourhood on Tuesday, a neighbourhood group reported. After more than 100 days of war, the latest bombardments added to a toll of at least 3,900 killed nationwide. “Sixteen citizens died today in this senseless war” when shells hit civilian homes in the Ombada area of Khartoum’s northwest, the neighbourhood group said. It is one of many pro-democracy “resistance committees” that have cobbled together supplies over the patchy internet, land lines, or by risking their own lives to venture out since the war began.…

GHANA’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, joining a long list of African countries that have done so in recent years. The country currently has 170 men and six women on death row, whose sentences will now be replaced by life imprisonment. The last execution took place in 1993. Execution has been the mandatory sentence for murder in Ghana. Opinion surveys suggest that most Ghanaians approve abolition. Last year seven people were sentenced to death in Ghana – but none were executed. Treason has also been punishable by death in Ghana. The bill to amend the Criminal Offences…